Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1887-01-08
THE NEW SOUTH.
Speech of Hon. H. w. Grady Before the
New England Society.

AT the elghty-tirSt annual dinner OF
the New England Society, given at
Delmonico's, in New York City, on
Forefather's day. Hon. Henry w.
Grady, of the Atlanta Constitution
was a guest, and responded to the
toast, "The New South" He was
the first Southerner ever to speak be-
fore the society. His speech has been
favorably commented upon by the
press all over the United States. We
give below a copious extract from the
speech:
WHAT THE NEW SOUTH MEANS.
In speaking to the toast with which
you have honored me / accept the
term, "The New South" as in no
sense disparaging to the old. Dear to
me, sir, is the home of my childhood
and the traditions of my people.
There is new south, not through
protest against old, but because ofnew
conditions, new adjustments, and, if
you please, new ideas and aspirations.
1t is to this that l address myself. l
ask you, gentlemen, to picture if you
can the foot-sore soldier who, button-
ing up in his faded gray jacket the
parole which was taken, testimony to
his children of his fidelity and faith,
turned his face southwark from APP
pomatox in April, 1865. Think of
him as, ragged, half starved, heavy
hearted, enfeebled by want and
wounds, having fought to exhaustion,
he surrenders his gun, wrings the
hands of his comrades, and lifting his
tear-stained and pallid face for the
last time to the graves that dot the
old Virginia hills, pulls his gray cap
over his brow and begins the slow
and painful journey. What does he
find-let me ask you, who went to
your homes eager to find all the well
come you had justly earned, full pay
ment for your four years sacrifice
what does he find, when he reaches
the home he left four years before?
He finds his home in ruins, his farm
devastated, his slaves freed, his stock
killed, his barns empty, his trade de-
stroyed, his money worthless, his
social system, feudal in its magnifi-
cence, swept away, his people without
law or legal status, his comrades slain,
and the burdens ofothers heavy on his
shoulders. Crushed by defeat, his
very tradition gone. Without money,
credit, employment, material or
trailing-and besides all this, con-
fronted with the gravestproblem that
ever met human intelligence-the es-
tablishing ola status for the vast body
Of his liberated slaves.
What does he do-this hero in gray
with heart ofgold-doeS he sit down
in sullenness and despair? Not for a
day. Surely God, who had scourged
him in his prosperity, inspired him
in his adversely! AS ruin was never
before so overwhelming, never was
restoration swifter. The soldier step.
ped from the trenches into the furroW
horses that charged federal guns
marched before the pillow, and fields
that run red with human blood in
April were green with the harvest in
June; women reared in luxury cut ur
their dresses and made breeches for
their husbands, and with a patience
and heroism that fit women always
as a garment gave their hands tc
work. There was little bitterness in
all this. Cheerfulness and franknesS
prevailed. "Bill Arp" struck the
keynote when he said: "Well,
killed as many Of them as they did O.
me, and now am going to work.
laughter and applausel- or the sol
dier returning home after defeat anG
roasting some corn on the roadside
who made the remark to his com.
rades: "You may leave the south il
you want to, but / am going to Sand
crville, kiss my wife and raise crop,
and if the yankees fool with me any
more will whip 'em again" Re
newed laughter. l want to say t.
Gen. Sherman, who is considered an
able man in our parts, though people
think he is a kind of careless mar
about fire-from the ashes left us il
1864 we have raised a brave anC
beautiful city; that somehow or otheI
we have caught the sunshine in TIT
bricks and mortar of our homes, anC
have builded therein not one singl,
ignoble prejudice or memory. APP
plause.
THINGS THAT HAVE BEEN ACCOM-
pLISuED.
But what is the sum of our work